536 CH 496: LISTENING (1)
After discussing a little bit more with Ambrosia, Sol began to explore the city of witches at a leisurely pace.
As he thought, the city took a great deal of inspiration from European-style city during the revolution.
He had the impression that he was walking in old London, with the way the roads were designed.
The road was not particularly bustling and it was understandable. With how big Salem was, there was no way to actually fill all places, no matter how large the tower were.
‘Still, this place is gorgeous.’
Thinking so, Sol walked out of this dimension to the open world.
“Oh my… A man?”
Stopping, he looked to the side, where a young girl opened the window of a shop. Looking at the design, it seemed like a coffee restaurant.
“Are you open?”
“Ah? Huh…”
The young woman seemed completely bewildered after seeing him and he could understand why.
After all, while many witches went and explored the Astral realm, some others seemed to be content in staying indoors and simply working or taking care of the city.
The young girl looked even younger than most witches he had observed. As such, she should be relatively weak. He could not even feel the aura of a Duke coming from her.
“My name is Sol Luxuria.”
“Luxuria?”
Her bewildered expression froze before it slowly darkened.
Bang!
Sol looked impassive as the window was closed to his face with a bang. He could feel the witch crouching on the other side with a teary eyed expression, her whole body shivered.
This only made him sigh as he continued to walk his way.
Becoming a witch meant receiving an eternal curse. People who choose this path generally did so because they had no other choices. Few were like Persephone who did it simply because they were bored.
The problem, nowadays witches were pretty hated in the mortal world.
Lustburg rejected witches because of the distorted history that made them view witches in a bad light.
Citizens of other countries hated witches because they were the reasons the weak and struggling Lustburg became nearly an empire.
All of this was because of one person.
Jupiter Luxuria.
All the Luxuria enjoyed the result of the sacrifice and pain of the witches.
No King or Queen of Lustburg ever acknowledged those sacrifices and in fact repaid gratitude with hatred and death.
‘Seems like many witches don’t like me.’
He smiled and knocked on the door gently,
“May I enter?’
At first no sound reached him.
But it didn’t take long for the door to open and showed the young girl gazing at him with clear hostility in her eyes.
“What do you want?”
“What could I want outside of drinking and sharing time with like-minded people?”
The young girl sniffed dismissively, “We don’t want your kind here.”
She said so with pride before grimacing quietly. Her eyes darkened even further and she looked down, while cold sweat covered her face.
It seemed like the sentence she just used was something that had been thrown at her many times.
“I…I apologize. My words were too much. But please leave.”
She was about to close the door but Sol stopped it with his foot.
“I am awfully thirsty. I would also like to discuss it with you if it doesn’t bother you?”
He pushed the door easily and entered, despite knowing that it, without a doubt, bothered her quite a bit.
The interior was not much different from a coffee restaurant.
Already, there were a few witches mingling and speaking all around, but the moment Sol entered, silence immediately befell the room.
Anyone else would have been petrified as more than twenty pairs of eyes all immediately fixed on him, all showing either curiosity, anxiety, or outright hatred and disgust.
The range of emotion was wild and this was because he believed it was the best place for him to better understand the situation.
This was why,
“Hello, ladies!”
He gave his most charming and saluted all of them politely,
“I am Sol Dragona Luxuria. Happy to meet all of you.”
Then, ignoring all the surprised, confusing, and even flabbergasted expressions, to finally take a set.
It felt weird.
Being observed like a monkey in a circus.
But Sol was used to a far greater breach of privacy.
After all, not many men could boast of having given sex show to all matters of power from Duke rank to literal Goddesses.
Privacy was something that did not even exist in Sol's dictionary and so he simply sat, unbothered as if nothing could disturb him — not even the growing hostility he could see in some of their eyes.
In the end, it was a timid young looking man who approached him quietly, “Hum…Would you like to order?”
“Oh? Thanks. May I know what is served? This is my first time here, you see?”
The woman, because no matter how young she looked, she was obviously far older than him, gave him a speechless look. Her eyes seemed to scream, ‘Obviously, it’s your first time here.’
But still, she seemed very polite, “We mostly drink from a special region of the Astral realm. Ingredients and drinks from the mortals are quite hard to…”
She spoke at first, most likely simply by habit, but slowed down a little by the time her second sentence came out as if remembering who she was talking to.
“Ah…”
To this, Sol simply shook her head, “You do not have to mince your words. I guess Salem has been strapped for some resources. Would you like to tell me more?”
The woman hesitated at first, but be it because of the gentle smile on his face, his appearance or simply because she was extroverted by nature, she did not hesitate to speak.
Sol listened attentively, always making sure to keep a smile, always talking to her softly, and making sure she knew he was listening, giving her a look here and here while sometimes asking some insightful questions.
It didn’t take long for three, then five, and more than ten witches to surround him and while they were the ones talking, there was no doubt that it was Sol who was at the center of everything.
‘Sigh~I must have been a Gigolo in another life.’
Sol laughed inwardly while still listening.
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